This Week In Home Entertainment: The Little Mermaid, The Croods And More

This is the End is only the most recent in a trend of “the world is ending” sorts of comedies. This one’s a little different from outings like The World’s End and Seeking a Friend for the End of the World in that it is chock full of famous people playing famous people, making for a movie that’s often funnier than it is good.

Jay Baruchel makes it known from the very beginning of the film that he isn’t a fan of Los Angeles. When he shows up to stay with his pal Seth Rogen, he’s invited to a party at James Franco’s house, a party that he is reluctant to attend. However, when blue beams of light, fires, earthquakes and more interrupt the big event, six friends must figure out how to survive the ordeal, eventually heading out into the open and confronting their biggest fears and their biggest issues as individuals.

Joining Baruchel, Rogen and Franco are Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, and Danny McBride. Since the crew is made up completely of dudes, it leaves space for plenty of penis jokes, but the conversation is more often witty, and watching celebrities parody themselves is particularly amusing, especially in the moments when a slew of famous people get engaged with the plot, including but not limited to Rihanna, Emma Watson, David Krumholtz, and Martin Starr. Still, the plot is flimsy and occasionally drags, and the gross out element of some of the humor may not be appealing to some audiences. This is the End is not without the occasional problems, but it should keep viewers laughing throughout its wild run.

The bigger question is not whether This is the End is worth a watch, but whether or not it is worth owning. I’ve known some people who have watched the film over and over, but I was quite tired of it by the time I caught the film for the second time, and the set isn’t anything to write home about. I’m sure some of the Armageddon-oriented special effects look nice in HD picture, but the DVD set doesn’t offer anything special, especially in the bonus feature department.